The director sighed once the girl had scampered off, watching as everyone was currently trying to shoo the perfume bombed air out of the window, and muttered something about this being the path to his death. Adrien lingered nearby, politely waving Juleka off as she went in to put another layer of powder on his face.

YAY!!!!! I love Ninette! This ship doesn’t get nearly enough love, either as friends or romantic

Marinette slumped down on the bench in the school courtyard and finally let her smile drop.

“Five minutes,” she said to herself, “Five minutes and then you can make it the two blocks to your house.” Hopefully the bakery would be busy enough that she wouldn’t have to put on a show for her parents. Maybe if she was lucky she could grab a quick nap before popping a handful of caffeine pills.

7 akumas in six days.

It was too much. She was exhausted, stressed, and she didn’t even want to think about what sort of note was bound to get sent home to her parents before the end of the week. It would be miracle if she wasn’t grounded for the rest of eternity. She was pretty sure she had overhead them talking about the possibility of her being on drugs.

She pressed her hands to her temples and tried to will herself not to cry. Maybe if would be better to just sneak back to the classroom and nap there. True she wouldn’t have any lunch but she could manage without for a day.

“Hey,” a soft voice said beside her. She looked up to see Nino hesitantly sitting down next to her.

“Hey,” she said back trying to throw a hastily manufactured smile on her face, “what’s up Nino?”

“You look really tired,” he said without any preamble.

Marinette let her smile drop. “I just haven’t been sleeping well,” she said scuffing the ground with her toe.

“Yeah,” Nino said lightly, pulling off his hat and toying absently with the brim, “I can see that.”

Marinette let out a relieved breath at his lack of probing. Alya would have started grilling her for answers for such a shallow fib.

“Well that Lit project has been pretty stressful,” Nino said.

“Yeah.”

“Not to mention the whole saving the city from emotionally distraught possessed monsters. I would imagine that would cut into one’s regularly scheduled naptime.”

Marinette jumped, “How did you- I mean! What? What are you talking about?”

Nino gave her a bemused smile. “Wanna try that again, you were almost convincing.”

“When did you figure it out?” she asked, too tired to try and hide it anymore. To tell the truth it was a relief to have someone else know her secret.

“About a month ago,” he said with a shrug. “I figured it was best to just keep it a secret, but with everything happening lately I thought you might need a friend.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t glad you figured it out, but you know you could be in real danger.”

“Eh, danger is my middle name,” he joked fixing his hat onto Marinette’s head. “Besides I’ve already been akumatized so I doubt Mr. Butterfly is going to be bothering with me anytime soon.”

“At least not until Adrien’s next birthday,” Marinette teased.

“Nah, it’s all good man,” Nino said grinning, “besides me and G-man are tight now don’t you know.”

“G-man? Please tell me you actually called him that to his face.”

“Are you kidding I’m not suicidal. But seriously I think we’ve established a real rapport. The last time I went to see Adrien he said- and I quote- Oh, you’re here as well.”

For the sentence prompt: "Wait wait, you were making fun of Chat Noir behind his back?"

Thanks for the prompt! (did I thank the previous people? sorry if I didn’t!). This is a lil bit short and maybe ooc. But you know what? Fuck it, I want Marinette to gush over how cute chat’s cat habits are.

For the sentence prompt: “Wait wait, you were making fun of Chat Noir behind his back?”

Marinette and Alya turned around, to see Nino looking at them surprisedly.

“It depends what’s your definition of making fun of? I wasn’t even saying much, it was Marinette who was going on and on.”

“Dude, it’s not cool to make fun of Chat Noir cause he is grooming himself sometimes.” Nino scolded Marinette.

She just raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t making fun of Chat Noir?”

“It sounded like it, with all the gushing.”

“No, I wasn’t mocking him.” Marinette raised her hands defensively. “I really think he is adorable when he acts like a cat. He rarely does the grooming thing, but it is cute and he has this thing when he see a red dot and starts chasing it and is adorable and don’t even get me started on those cat ears, especially when they wiggle, it really gives me a hard time to keep my serious face on and… “

Alya and Nino looked at each other then stared flabbergasted at Marinette as she went on and on about how cute Chat’s cat habits were. If they bothered to look down, they’d see a certain model was getting redder with every compliment that left Marinette’s lips. He was a little bit too dead from the joy of hearing her compliments to wonder just how the hell did she know so much about Chat Noir and all his little quirks. Adrien hid his face in his arms.

Chat
grinned at the girl sitting on the chaise, wrapped in no fewer than
four blankets and letting off pathetic little noises from time to
time. His friend pouted and he found it adorably sexy in spite of his
desperate attempts not to.

“Chat,
I just don’t like the cold. And with the heating only warming up to
halfway till it’s fixed, I’m just…struggling.”

“But
all those photo albums you showed me have masses of pictures of you
in snowball fights and stuff!” he exclaimed as he remembered the
multitude of fun cold weather activities he had seen snaps of.

“Funny,”
she said, suddenly smirking although he had no idea why, “I’m not
sure I showed you that many. I mean-“ her smirk dropped into almost
over-exaggerated innocence, “-your reactions to them are what made
me decide to show them all off to Alya and Adrien, since they hadn’t
seen them before either, but I thought I’d only shown you a couple of
pages.”

“Riiight,”
he said as his mind scrambled for an excuse, “Well, I flipped
through some more quickly when you went to the bathroom later on. The
point is, you used to love the cold weather.”

“Yeah,
well…in recent months I find myself enjoying it less than I used
to,” she huffed.

He
chuckled a little at her grumpy attitude, which reminded him a lot of
Nino’s little cousin when she couldn’t convince Nino to buy her the
toys she wanted. Marinette wore the annoyed tantrum look much better
though, and he fought down some wildly inappropriate thoughts which
surfaced when he considered that tantrums were usually punished.

His
chuckled transformed into an awkward cough as he glanced away.

“Well,”
he said, in an attempt to distract her from the blush beginning to
form on his face, “they say heat rises, so you’re lucky you have
an attic room really.”

“Hmm,”
she murmured, “ It does, doesn’t it? I guess I should curl up in
bed then. It’s higher up there.”

“Don’t
be silly,” she said, standing and making her way up her ladder,
“Come up and keep me company. And let me steal your heat.”

He
gulped and he was sure she heard it, though she didn’t comment. She
gestured for him to follow her up and he sluggishly made his way up
her ladder without being entirely sure how he was still remaining
co-ordinated at all.

“Umm,
how can you steal my heat?” he asked once he reached the top, and
was immensely proud of himself for keeping his voice steady, despite
the internal discomfort which was starting to climb up through his
chest and forcing it’s way into his throat.

“Cuddles
obviously.”

Okay.
Breathe Adrien he told himself, you kinda knew that was
coming. Don’t freak out now.

“Do
you-“ he cleared his throat awkwardly as she settled herself on the
bed, “cuddle with your other friends?”

“Sure.
Alya stays over a lot and she’s a cuddly sleeper.”

“I
meant your other guy friends,” he said, “isn’t it a bit weird?”

“I
don’t think so,” she said with a coy little smile, “I haven’t
cuddled with a guy since I was a little kid, but if one of my close
friends wanted to, I wouldn’t even hesitate.”

She
reached out her arms for him and he took a deep breath as discreetly
as possible before moving forward and sliding in next to her. She
immediately wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest,
which made him stiffen for a moment before he allowed himself to
relax and enjoy the comfort he was feeling being held. He placed his
own arms around her in return.

“So
how close is a close friend?” he asked, some of his teasing bravado
returning.

“Well,
you for starters, obviously,” she said and Chat could almost hear
her eyes roll, “and obviously Alya because she’s my BFF…”

“And?”
he asked, feeling like there was more and she was waiting for his
prompting to continue.

“And
well…I’ve known Nino forever and I hang out with him a lot
because he’s dating Alya now…so I guess he’s the third and
final one.”

“Oh,”
he said, unable to keep himself from feeling disappointed and a
little hurt, “not that model then? Isn’t he that Nino guy’s best
friend? So you must hang out with him a lot too right?”

“Well
obviously I’d cuddle with Adrien.”

He
frowned and looked down at her. She looked up from her spot on his
chest to meet his eyes, an amused look on her face.

“But,
you said Nino was third and final. Adrien makes four.” She giggled.

“I
mentioned you first, you dumb-ass.”

His
eyes widened as he made the connection and he would have jumped away
from her, had she not clamped her arms around him tighter to hold him
in place.

“YOU
KNOW!?”

She
giggled again and his stomach churned with butterflies at a
combination of the pretty sound and his flustered panic over his
identity.

“Yup.
Since you, as Adrien, mentioned a story I’d told you as Chat without
realising you shouldn’t have known it. That was two weeks ago.”

“Why
didn’t you say anything before now!?”

“Well,
I did freak out a bit at first, but then it just seemed like so much
fun to tease you without you understanding that was what I was doing.”

“Teasing
me? For wha-”

“So,
just how long have you been crushing on me? ‘Cause I only started to
notice about a month ago; Only that Chat did of course.”

I still have a migraine but fuck it. (The first one is two, I cheated. Also I firmly believe Nino calls his parents māmā and bābā. Also also, it kind of turned into a reveal fic? I know reveal is a prompt later this week but I guess you’re getting something different that day? Also also also: it’s an ass day, I guess? Or Nino is definitely an ass man, either way.)

Title: Five Times Nino and Chat Noir Played Gay Chicken (And One Time They Were Just Gay)Summary: When it started was still up for debate. (In which Nino flirts with a superhero, neither Chat or Nino really knows the meaning of Gay Chicken, and Alya is the bane of Nino’s existence in the best of ways.)

Nino had thought that he had his life more or less figured
out for now, all things considered. School was going as smoothly as could be
expected, he was able to hang out with a great group of friends this year,
there had been no major family disasters, and he was actually getting a little
bit of recognition for his talent as a DJ.

And, despite the Bubbler incident, he’d adapted pretty well
to the whole idea that anyone could be turned into a supervillain until Ladybug
and Chat Noir managed to save the day.

That had actually been easier to roll with than he’d
expected, and some good things had come out of it, like his almost-relationship
with Alya.

Sure, he’d been crushing on Marinette, but that had started
to change after the incident at the zoo, and while he was definitely not an
expert when it came to reading women, he was fairly certain Alya wasn’t opposed
to the idea.

He was also fairly certain that Alya knew how he felt
without him even really having to say anything, because she was Alya, and he
doubted anyone could sneak anything past her.

At least, that’s what he’d always thought.

But the day Nino came home to find Chat Noir in his room, he
was forced to re-evaluate a few things.

The discovery would be disconcerting for anyone and would’ve
been really disturbing were Chat Noir not a superhero, but for Nino…. It was
also weird.

“Nino, I’m sorry,” Chat Noir blurted before Nino had fully
registered the intrusion. The hero was sitting crosslegged on his bed, and if
Nino had to guess, had sneaked in through the window.

“Uh….” Why did Chat Noir want to talk to him? Nino didn’t
think he’d done anything to merit the hero’s attention. He definitely didn’t
think he’d done anything to merit a home invasion. Or anything that would cause
Chat Noir to figure out who he was and where he lived or, more to the point, which room was his.

“Everything’s fine,” Chat Noir said, as if he could read
Nino’s mind. “Just hear me out. I have a proposal for you.”

Nino bounced his leg, knee popping up to hit the bottom of the desk every third bounce. His stylus tapped a steady beat against the tablet. His left fist clenched and unclenched to its own rhythm.

“Pssst.”

Nino turned to see Marinette grinning at him. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I may be a little nervous. Possibly,” he admitted with a small smile.

Marinette grabbed her tablet and bag and moved down to the empty seat beside Nino. She waved off the look on his face. “Adrien can survive one day beside Alya. I’m sure of it.”

“If you say so.”

“Tell me why you’re nervous.”

He looked at her incredulously. “I’m just nervous. Does there have to be a reason?”

Marinette simply looked back at him.

“Okay, there may be a few reasons,” he conceded. “The competition tonight is kind of a big deal, right? Like, if DJ Babbalabb likes me, this could be my chance to actually make a life out of music. It’s what I’ve wanted, like, forever.”

“You’re going to be amazing. You always are,” Marinette assured him.

“You think so?”

“Nino, my favorite playlist consists of your mixes and some Jagged Stone songs. That’s a very high honor.”

Nino’s cheeks tinged pink. “You really like my stuff?”

“To be honest, EDM isn’t really my jam but it’s you so I like to listen to it because, well…because it reminds me of you.” It was Marinette’s turn to blush. “And I do like your stuff! Maybe not EDM in general, but your mixes are great!”

“Would you want to come with me tonight? I was going to ask Adrien, but if you’re available…”

“I would love to,” Marinette answered quickly. Her blush deepened. “Was that too eager? I feel like that might have been a touch too eager.”

“I’ve been trying to build up the courage to ask you to do something for weeks now so eager is really good,” Nino admitted.

“So this is a, um, a date?”

“I mean, I thought…” Nino’s face blanched and his knee began to bounce again. “I think I just found another reason to be nervous.”

Marinette put a hand on his arm and smiled. “We’re going to have a wonderful date and you’re going to do amazing at your audition and there’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“You’re kind of the best. You know that, right?”

“Save it for the date, Romeo,” Marinette winked as the rest of their classmates filed in.

Insanity Rambles: Scrolling through the Marichat tag and I JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA EVER. May put this on A03 later.

It was mid-afternoon on a Sunday and her parents were out. Only Marinette and Nino were in the building, working on a French assignment. She had taken down all indications of her crush on Adrien and spread out the resources they needed across the desk. Tikki was hidden away, napping in a small box in the alcove above her bed while Marinette worked with Nino. They were almost finished when the designer spotted it.

2. Nino lowered his hand and without looking, touched Ohno’s hand quickly, he didn’t look at Nino as if Nino was calling him or if he wanted to say something to him, he just stayed still and showed no reaction.

3. Well, I only put 1 gif of holding hands but I’ve got a lot. We are used to see them holding hands like if nothing happen and acting normally. Maybe I’m the only but I don’t hold hands with my friends everytime we can :/

4. This impact me a lot. It’s from the making of My Girl. They was recording a scene and Ohno had to stand up and go to a box. We can see how they was holding hands under the table without anyone knowing. The above could have an excuse since they are good friends, but to do so in secret is very strange and mystery, don’t it?

5. Finally, in Time maybe? I don’t remember sorry. When they was saying goodbye and the 5 of them held hands and made a reverence, Nino and Ohno stayed together and their fingers squeezed each other.

Well, you can call me crazy if you want XD
But didn’t it look strange for you? I mean, this game, touch/hold hands, it can be happen ½/3 times like Sakuraiba or even Juntoshi, but Ohno and Nino stay like this a lot of times more than normal. It’s like it means something special for them, maybe they show each other something with these actions. ( ¯•ω•¯ )

To say Nino was happy was an understatement. He was filled
to the brim with joy. Every inch of him felt like it was covered in cute little
animals. He was in a state of pure nirvana. He was every word in the dictionary
that described happiness because he was finally in love.

He just wasn’t in love, though. He was head over heels. He
had never felt such pure feelings for anyone before. It made him feel like life
was rainbows and cupcakes, though he knew that was very cheesy. He didn’t care.
Love was the cheesiest of cheesy. Especially with his love.

Nino knew it was hard to be in love with a superhero. He was
aware that if they dated, he would be in constant danger, or so his comic books
told him. Yet, he couldn’t help himself. His heart could not be swayed.

It was honestly a shock the first day Nino realized he was
in love with one of Paris’ superheroes. He’d always admired them but never
imagined he’d fall in love with one. He was on the Ladyblog when BOOM. He could
feel his heart pounding. He was sweating. It was nice.

He waited two weeks before he told Adrien about his crush.
Nino wanted to be sure his feelings were true before he confided in his best
friend. It was right before classes started. “Hey, bro?” Nino was really
nervous, though he wasn’t sure why. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Nino. What’s up?” Adrien looked at him with concern.

“Is it weird if I’m into a superhero? Like, in love with
one?” Nino bit his lip.

Adrien blinked a couple of times before he started laughing.
“Nino, bro, you’re asking me that? Remember when I was in love with Ladybug? It’s
not weird. Our four superheroes are amazing people.”

Nino nodded. “Okay, cool.”

Adrien grinned and gave him a nudge with his elbow. “So?
Which one you catch the feels for?”

Nino nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t know there were that many ways to
say his name but yeah. It’s weird, right? Didn’t know I was into dudes.”

Adrien grinned. “So are you a bromosexual?”

Nino punched Adrien in the arm. “Not funny, dude. I’m really
serious about this one. Like, I know Chat’s a hero and whatever, but I really
like him. I just get so happy thinking about him. I think it’s kinda weird. I’ve
barely talked to the dude.”

“Nino, my friend, it’s cool. And it makes you happy.” Adrien
grinned. “Happiness is a good path in life.”

Anyone who gushed over Paris in Spring had clearly never experienced the city at the aching cusp of June and July.

Heat rolls up from the pavement in leisurely waves. On every street, windows slide open like lips parted to taste the honey-thick sun above. Men stubbornly decked in suits fan themselves with their wilting copies of Le Monde; women relinquish skirts past the knee. In the park, much of François-Dupont’s première class sheds their layers of homework and exams. It is the first day of summer break and there is so much skin.

Freshly eighteen, Adrien is certain this day is made for him. His friends and classmates canvas the park in laughter and silliness, and he can’t help but get caught up in it all. Nino, Alix, Kim and him rush from end to end of one side of the park, kicking around a soccer ball while some of the other girls watch and cheer (most of them are rooting for Alix, naturally). In a rare show of solidarity, Alya and Chloé recline side-by-side on the towels stretched out across the grass, though Alya doesn’t have Sabrina fawning over her and misting her with cool water at regular intervals. Juleka plants herself firmly under the widest, fullest tree in the park and tugs her sunhat (a deep violet) as far down her face as possible. Still, she smiles when Rose plops down next to her with two bottles of Orangina.

“Alright, alright, timeout,” Nino wheezes, coming to a stop a few minutes later. “I gotta take a break dudes, this heat is killer!” He pulls off his hat and wipes his sweat-glossed brow.

Their mini-match paused, Nino books it to Alya’s side. Alix dribbles the ball between her feet as she watches Nino run off. She rolls her eyes and shoots Kim a knowing look.

“Yeah, the heat is getting to him,” she says, “Definitely has nothing to do with that come hither bikini top Alya’s rocking.”

Kim actually has to lean down to jab Alix in the ribs. With a yelp, Alix leaps up and smacks Kim in the back of the head, height difference ignored entirely. This must happen often: Kim grabs both of her forearms with the kind of speed that makes Adrien wonder if he has some kind of supernatural abilities. Grip firm, Kim hauls Alix up to eye level. She wraps her arms around his neck and scowls as she hangs there.

“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to challenge Alya to a dare just to keep you,” Kim says. The gleam in his eye tells Adrien he’s only half-joking.

“Ugh, not this time, you oaf.”

Adrien does a 180 when their lips meet with a loud smack. It’s already searing out - he doesn’t need to add the heat from his blush. He spots Nino dragging Alya off of her towel and into the cool of a tree-shaded bench, and decides he’s better off with the PDA he’s already developed a tolerance for.

It’s a good thing, too, because Nino is already peppering Alya’s forehead with kisses. Back to the bottom edge of the bench, Alya reclines between Nino’s legs and tilts her head back to allow for Nino’s affections. She glances down her nose and waves as Adrien approaches.

“See, I told you they wouldn’t keep playing once I left,” Nino says, “I’m just too integral to the team.”

Alya gives a whine of protest when Nino straightens up, but she took raises her head when Adrien sits down on the bench next to them. Her gaze flutters to Alix and Kim, still in the middle of the field but now performing some rather athletic making out that bordered on Olympic-worthy.

“Nah, I think they just found some other goals to score,” Alya teases. She pats Nino’s leg consolingly when he blanches at the sight.

“We don’t look like that, do we?” he asks, turning to Adrien for validation.

“Only sometimes.”

Nino’s face crumples in disgust as both Adrien and Alya burst into laughter. After dating through the final years of college and into lycée, the two had calmed their amorous endeavors considerably, though Nino had become no less paranoid and far easier to tease about being over the top. Perhaps it had something to do with the time Alya had accidentally livestreamed one of their more… enthusiastic make out sessions on the Ladyblog from her phone. Alya stopped carrying her phone in her back pocket after that.

“Is there anyone not dating someone else in this class?” Adrien asks. It’s not meant to sound as wistful as it does. He’s happy for his friends, naturally, and he can’t say he has any complaints about his current position… outside of the fact that Adrien can’t discuss it with anyone he knows.

“Well…” Alya starts. She looks up at him with a smirk, and Adrien immediately knows he’s going to regret his question. So much for rhetorical.

“There’s you, of course. Nathanael, Sabrina…”

Alya starts counting off on her fingers, though the list is limited to one hand.

“And Marinette.”

Two years of Alya at Nino’s side have prepared Adrien for this. Adrien wasn’t sure that Marinette even liked him anymore; he’d been flattered, naturally, when Nino spilled the beans about the whole crush, but made it clear early on that he didn’t see Marinette as much more than a friend (though he couldn’t admit where his affections really stood). Sure, his shy classmate never actually confessed her feelings to him, but either Alya broke the news to her gently or Marinette simply got over him. It’s been over a year since she’d even stuttered in his presence, and most of the time she follows Alya’s good-natured ribbing of both boys. They were a bit of a squad, the four of them.

“Alya,” he starts, trying to keep the edge of annoyance from his voice, “For like the zillionth time, Marinette is great-”

As Adrien speaks, his eyes wander, searching the park for the girl in question.

“She’s smart and funny and a wonderful girl,” he continues.

Under the other tree, Rose tips up Juleka’s hat to press her lips to her cheek. Juleka swigs on her drink and fails to stifle a pleased blush. His eyes skip over Chloe, not wishing to draw her attention, and dart just as quickly past Alix and Kim - he’d seen enough of that before.

“But I just don’t-”

He finds Marinette.

The summer light casts her in soft gold, adding a glow to the rosiness of her newly sunned skin. And oh, how much of her is skin: bare from toes to thighs, Marinette stretches her lean legs out along one side of the picnic bench she lounges on. There’s the briefest of interruptions for a pair of bright pink denim shorts that come to an end mid-waist, and then a seemingly endless expanse of uncovered stomach. A faded blue dress shirt, worn and comfortable, has been repurposed, sleeves rolled up to her elbows and shirttails tied neatly just under the swell of her breasts. Her dark hair has been parted into two braids that linger right at her collarbones.

“Don’t-” Adrien fumbles.

Her lips embrace the fleshy curve of a peach. Devastatingly slow, Marinette bites. Juice trickles down her fingers and from the sides of her mouth as she pulls away. One drop meanders to the end of her chin, then plunges off the edge. It lands on her chest and continues its path down, past the smattering of freckles, past the deep vee of her mostly unbuttoned shirt, to somewhere Adrien can only imagine.

Spring in Paris has nothing on this. Adrien can’t be sure when he stops breathing, but he knows he starts again when Marinette, frowning at the stickiness on her fingers, begins to suck on them one-by-one. She carries on with whatever conversation she’s having with Nathanael, even as she pops each finger past her lips. Adrien’s stare meets his, and there’s a brief moment of understanding, of brotherhood, before both sets of eyes return to Marinette’s fingers. He is likely as red as Nathanael, and goes decidedly redder when Marinette presses the peach to her mouth once more. Had he been saying something? Everything is peach and sweet and succulent.

“Don’t?” Alya asks, voice rising curiously.

Adrien startles and tries to drag his eyes away in time. It’s a useless venture - Alya’s eyebrows raise and a smile electrifies her face.

“She looks good, huh?” Alya says. Nino groans and buries his face in his hands but does not stop his girlfriend. “Really buff, too. You wouldn’t think it, looking at her normally, but the girl can lift.”

There’s no pushing his blush back down, so he doesn’t even try. Caught in the act, Adrien can only play along. “Seriously, I had no idea how fit she is!” he says, “Looks like Nathanael has noticed, too.”

Ever the best friend, Nino picks up on Adrien’s intent immediately. “Yeah,” he cuts in, “You think he’s still crushing on Marinette? Seems like it.”

This is what he wants. Adrien has other interests, other priorities, and the last thing he needs is Alya getting the wrong idea again. So the sharp flare of jealousy that tightens his chest as Adrien watches Nathanael watching Marinette is ridiculous. He didn’t like her - couldn’t like her, not like that.

“Haven’t you seen his comics in the school paper?” Alya says with a snort, “Nathanael’s got the biggest thing for Ladybug.”

“Who doesn’t?” Adrien mutters.

Because that’s the thing. Ladybug. He can’t be looking at Marinette, running his eyes up and down her lounging form, and still be true to the love of his life. Marinette takes another bite of her peach and Adrien feels all of the blood in his body shift either up or down. There’s no helping the vision of Marinette’s lips running along his cheek. Adrien stares down that peach and thinks he almost might know what it would feel like. His heart, throbbing, plummets to the pit of his stomach when his thoughts bounce back to a red mask, black spots. Nothing makes it feel less like a betrayal.

The conversation trails to something else, but Adrien hardly follows. Alya must decide to give him a break about it, though he deserves her teasing. Even when he turns away from her, Marinette, in those shorts, affixes herself firmly in the back of his skull.

Once, on a photoshoot, he’d been getting his makeup touched up while his makeup artist and another model, a woman in her mid-twenties, gossiped and tittered over their most recent relationships. ‘I don’t care where my man gets hungry,’ one of them had said over the crown of his head, ‘As long as he comes home for dinner.’

As soon as Ladybug swings herself up to his side, he pounces, burying his face into the soft skin just below her jaw. He lets his lips thread up and down the side of her neck, relishing in the little gasp she gives when he nips at the lobe of her ear. Ladybug lets him lave her in kisses and nibbles for a few solid minutes, arching her head back and encouraging him to wander. When she giggles, it wells up in his stomach, a happy bubble.

“I missed you too, minou,” she breathes.

He refuses to give her any longer than that; Chat’s hands run along her hips and he crushes her body to his. The only sounds she makes from there are the moans and pants he milks from her with his lips on her neck and his hands along her back. With each press, Chat works to purge Marinette from his mind, and he fails every time: he traces his tongue down Ladybug’s jawline and sees the sweet line left down Marinette’s chest; he grips Ladybug’s hips and envisions pink, pink, pink and skin. It only spurs him on. Chat’s attentions become more urgent. He won’t think about her fingers, or the delicate ‘o’ her mouth made as she sucked away peach juices.

Finally, Ladybug tires of his teasing. With two strong hands, she gets a grasp on his hair and yanks him up. Her eyes are blue and blown wide, and her cheeks reddened with more than exertion. He can see the early pink of a light sunburn, he thinks, underneath the thousands of freckles that seem to have sprung up in force over night. Ladybug looks at him hungrily, like she’d take a bite and savour him forever.

Her plump lips wash over his, once, twice, and then hold fast. There’s no ceremony as Chat’s tongue plunges into her mouth, feeling, tasting.

Summary: It’s been several months since Ladybug and Chat Noir discovered their true identities. Now that they aren’t trapped by secrets, they can finally be their full selves around each other and have never been closer. Marinette is going into her final year at university, Adrien is exploring new classes and passions, and their friends Alya and Nino seem to be moving towards a happy future together. It all feels like things couldn’t be better.

But of course, nothing in life is quite so perfect.

When Adrien starts having vivid nightmares and visions about his mother, old questions begin to resurface. Will he be able to find the answers, or will these ghosts from the past tear apart the heroes of Paris for good?

Reminder, you can also read / follow this fic at AO3 here, and FF.net here.

Word Count: 6,817

Enjoy!!!

The
late August sun beat down upon Paris from a brilliant, cloudless sky. The city
was full of bustling noises as many of its inhabitants tried to take advantage
of the last days of Summer. Cars drove with the windows rolled down, blasting
upbeat music as they passed myriads of pedestrians. Hordes of people explored
the many kiosks and vendors, strolled along the river banks, and flew kites in
the refreshing breeze that blew through the parks and along the busy streets.

“Nino, it’s Marinette. Alya says she is really sorry,” she called through the door. “Can we please come in and talk?”

Adrien put a hand on his best friend’s shoulder in solidarity and went to stand by their dorm room door. “Marinette, this is Adrien and Nino isn’t ready to speak to Alya yet.”

Nino nodded his thanks.

“This is ridiculous! He’s being a baby!” Something heavy slammed into the door and Alya let out a frustrated growl. “I told you I’d buy you a new record!”

Nino hung his head with a heavy sigh and went to join Adrien by the door. “You can’t buy me a new one. It was practically an antique, Al. You ruined a piece of my musical history.”

“You deleted the Ladyblog! It’s taken me days to piece it back together!”

“That was an accident!” Nino yelled, throwing his hands in the air. He looked to Adrien who shrugged, taking a careful step back. Nino frowned.

“It was not an accident! You said I was spending too much time on it and deleted it right in front of my face!” Alya screamed. There was a yelp and a sharp hiss outside the door. “Oh, crap! I’m so sorry, Marinette!” Alya banged on the door. “Please let us in! I broke Marinette’s face.”

Nino and Adrien exchanged looks before wrenching the door open to find a flustered Alya and Marinette holding a bloody hand to her nose. She waved with her free hand. “Friend down.”

“I can’t believe you hit her,” Adrien chastised, walking Marinette over to their sink. “Hold your head back and let me see.”

“I didn’t mean to! Her face got in the way of my…well, that doesn’t actually sound good, does it?” Alya slumped. “Are you okay, M?”

“I’m fine. Believe me, I’ve done worse to myself.”

Nino and Alya watched Adrien clean Marinette up for a few moments before turning to each other. “I’m sorry,” Alya said, ducking her head. “I lost my temper, but I didn’t actually mean to break the record. It snapped before I realized it and I have literally been scouring the internet for a replacement ever since.”

“I didn’t mean to delete the Ladyblog. I honestly just thought I was logging out of it,” Nino offered. “I’m really sorry, Al.”

“So we can all stop acting like babies now?” Adrien scowled, holding a wet washcloth to Marinette’s face.